Pygmalion is 107 years’ old. It was written for a very different theatre to our own, but it doesn’t need the Edwardian trappings to work. It also doesn’t require a self-conscious re-imagining to make the play seem more relevant to us. The quality of Shaw’s writing, his loquacity, and wit are all there on display. It doesn’t hurt to have a strong leading lady, and in this production in the form of Emma Wright, we have an Eliza to die for!
Director Deborah Mulhall’s starting point and main visual idea is the cog. The terrific set by Tom Bannerman is a celebration of machination and movement. Embracing Steampunk, Mulhall (also responsible for costuming with Fiona McClintock), allows for playfulness in her characters’ attire, the combination of luxurious-looking fabrics and metal working a treat. Moreover, as well as being arresting to look at the mise-en-scene serves the play’s major theme of mobility, in particular, the challenges around class mobility.
The first line of the play, “I’m getting chilled to the bone” doesn’t come straight away. Instead, Mulhall decides to slowly build her stage picture to reveal the cross section of society in Covent Garden on this cold, wet evening. Thankfully we don’t get jolly poor people, but then this is not the Lerner and Lowe musical. We do get an insight, however, into of the precariousness of Eliza’s position.
From this opening scene, Wright makes her mark. Her Eliza is so very vibrant and certainly up to giving as good as she gets. Wright also has the perfect sparring partner in Steve Corner’s Henry Higgins. Corner’s casting reduces the age gap between them, but this production doesn’t waste time toying with a possible romantic attraction. Corner’s Higgins can switch on the charm, but he is undoubtedly a callous egotist. Also, cast younger than usual is the role of Colonel Pickering with Shan-Ree Tran proving a most debonair sidekick.
It was a pleasure watching this trio at work, and so a shame to report nearly all the peripheral characters aren’t where they need to be. It may have been opening night nerves, but the vigour of some of Shaw’s debates as well as the humour of the play’s best one-liners was getting lost.
Shaw is not easy. I think with a few more runs under their belt the company will gel and they will have a more robust production.
Veronica Hannon, Theatre Now Sydney
Pygmalion
George Bernard Shaw
23 Apr – 25 May 2019
Previews 23 & 24 Apr 7:30pm
Opening Night Thu 25 Apr 7:30pm
Thu – Sat 7:30pm
Sun 5pm
Sat 25 May 2pm only
Venue: New Theatre
Theatre Company: New Theatre
Duration: New Theatre
“Why did you take my independence from me?”
It is the turn of the 20th century and in a newly-industrialised England, class barriers are breaking down.
Eliza Doolittle – an aspirational young flower girl with no money and unintelligible speech – sees a chance to escape the destiny of her birth. Language lessons from the wealthy, bullying, funny, linguistics professor Henry Higgins seem like just the ticket. But a ticket to what?
The outcome of her training is not what she or her teacher expected. As Higgins endeavours to mould Eliza to his vision of the perfect lady, disregarding her autonomy as a unique human being, conflicting emotions and desires start to play an unexpected part.
This production of Shaw’s most popular play will embrace the aesthetic of Steampunk to explore subjects of class division and social mobility in a world where people’s worth is judged not by who they are but by the way they speak. Though reflecting the shuttered and stifling nature of Edwardian society, there are profound parallels to our own.
“One of the very finest works of English-speaking theatre” Crikey
Director Deborah Mullhall
Set Designer Tom Bannerman
Lighting Designer Mehran Mortezaei
Sound Designer Patrick Eades
Assistant Director Gundega Lapsa
Costume Assistant Fiona McClintock
Stage Manager Victoria Lewis
Crew Vitas Varnas, Emilia Kriketos, Sean McBride
CAST
Colleen Cook, Steve Corner
Tiffany Hoy, Lisa Kelly
Emilia Kriketos, Natasha McDonald
Mark Norton, Robert Snars
Shan-Ree Tan, Sean Taylor
Vitas Varnas, Emma Wright
Tricia Youlden
Ticket Prices
Full $35
Concession, Groups (6+) $30
New Theatre Members $22 (with promo code)
Previews, Thrifty Thursdays $20
